Earth: Unheard by Ding Yi Music Company
Listen to new chamber works at Ding Yi Music Company’s next concert, including the premiere of Young Artist Award recipient and composer Wang Chenwei’s Barong Dance.
Wang tells The Straits Times the piece was inspired by the eponymous traditional Balinese performance which dramatises the battle between the divine forest guardian Barong and the witch queen Rangda. “Listeners will experience Balinese gamelan styles fused with Western programmatic composition, as the Chinese ensemble emulates gamelan soundscapes.”
The piece will be performed by Ding Yi sheng musician Soh Swee Kiat. Wang adds that the solo sheng will emulate “gong vibrations, metallic percussion textures and the blazing energy characteristic of gong kebyar music”.
Other new works include renowned banhu virtuoso and artistic adviser Hu Yu’s composition Echoes Of The Mountain.
Curator and concertmaster Fred Chan Hong Wei, who learnt the banhu under Hu Yu and considers it a turning point in his musical journey, says in a statement: “From those early days of study to now collaborating on Earth: Unheard, we continue to delve deeper into the vast world of Chinese chamber music. This concert reflects that ongoing exploration – where tradition meets innovation, and where the voices of nature, mythology and native sounds shape our artistic expression.”
Where: Esplanade Recital Studio, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: Esplanade/City Hall
When: April 20, 7.30pm
Admission: $35 (standard), $20 (concession)
Info: str.sg/j5oe
Georges Bizet’s Carmen by Singapore Lyric Opera
The year 2025 marks not just the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence, but also the 150th anniversary since the debut of French composer Georges Bizet’s operatic masterpiece Carmen.
Singapore Lyric Opera celebrates both – as well as the company’s 35th anniversary – by transposing Bizet’s tragic story of love and jealousy from 19th-century Spain to 1960s Singapore.
Artistic director Nancy Yuen tells The Straits Times the semi-staged production will “bring the audience back to reminisce a bit of the old days, the factory workers, street hawkers, street fights, the local coffee shops, the eclectic collection of ordinary working-class folks from different ethnic groups striving for survival while enjoying their lives at the same time”.
The production will feature an international cast with French singer Mathilde Ortscheidt playing the lead role.
Yuen adds: “Carmen is a timeless story about lust, power, greed, personal gain, instant gratification and insecurities, all of which existed then – be it 150 or 60 years ago – today and beyond.”
Where: Victoria Theatre, 9 Empress Place
MRT: City Hall
When: April 25 and 26, 7.30pm
Admission: From $38
Info: str.sg/9UAi
National Theatre Live
English actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Irish actor Andrew Scott might not be coming to Singapore, but they are coming to a screen near you.
The Esplanade will be screening some of the best shows in British theatre as part of National Theatre Live from April 17 and 19. Hamlet, which sees Cumberbatch in the titular role of Shakespeare’s tragedy, is already sold out, but there is still a chance to catch Scott in Vanya, an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya.
Irish author Oscar Wilde’s farcical comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest, filmed live at the National Theatre in London, is also screening.
Look out, too, for a new work adapted from film director Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 comedy Dr Strangelove, filmed live during its world premiere in January 2025. English-Irish actor Steve Coogan plays four leading roles in this satire of Cold War brinkmanship.
English actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag – the play which inspired the hit television series of the same name (2016 to 2019) – is sold out.
Where: Singtel Waterfront Theatre at Esplanade, 8 Raffles Avenue
MRT: Esplanade/City Hall
When: April 17 to 19, various timings
Admission: From $24
Info: str.sg/fKiK
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